Missile loader crane



Dec. 10, 1963 F. N. EATON I 3,

MISSILE LOADER CRANE Filed Nov. 23, 1962 INVENTOR.

m N m E FREDERIC N. EATON ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,113,437 MISSILE LGADER CRANE Frederic N. Eaton, Pasadena, Caliii, assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Nov. 23, 19.62, Sci. No. 239,356 1 Claim. (Cl. 89--1.7) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental .purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention relates to material handling apparatus and more particularly to a crane for transferring rocket propelled missiles from a position, such as adjacent the deck of a ship, to a missile launcher disposed on the deck, US. Patent 2,987,963 being exemplary of such missilelauncher-crane combination. Another prior art crane employed for the foregoing purpose and over which the present invention constitutes certain improvements, comprises a vertically extensible hydraulic ram to the upper end of which is afiixed a cantilevered laterally extending arm, the outer end of which carries a head member which supports, for rectilineal horizontal movement, a trolley. The boom which supports the missile is pivoted to the trolley for free movement about a horizontal axis when the boom is connected to and moved by the launcher, and when disconnected is locked by a latch against pivotal movement in a fixed position. Its proper functioning depends upon control of the latch to lock the boom against free pivotal movement when uncoupled from the launcher to obviate hazard to personnel and damage to the apparatus. Since there is no positive control over the pivotal movement it is diflicult to pick up missiles from the ships deck due to variation in missile lug attitude and deck slope. It is otherwise unduly complicated, costly to manufact-ure, diflicult to maintain, heavy and cumbersome, and awkward to operate.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a crane of the type just referred to which will obviate its various disadvantages.

Another object is to eliminate the trolley and latching mechanism referred to and substitute a tilting head in lieu of the fixed head which carries the trolley and positively rotate the pivoted head under hydraulic power means.

Another object is to convert the hydraulic power means to a dashpot when the boom is connected to the launcher to provide con-trolled rate of movement of the boom under influence of gravity in event of failure of its connection with the launcher to thus obviate hazards to personnel and damage to various parts of the apparatus.

Another object is to positively move the boom relative to its pivoted carrying head by hydraulic power means.

Other objects, advantages and salient features will become more apparent from a consideration of the description to follow, the appended claim and the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of a missile crane forming the subject of the invention, the launcher into 'which the missiles are loaded being shown by dotted lines;

FIG. 2. is a side elevation in the direction of arrow 2, FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3, FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a detail of the remote unshown end of the boom, as indicated by arrow 4, FIG. 1; and

' FIG. 5 is a simplified schematic hydraulic control.

Referring to the drawing, the invention comprises a hydraulic cylinder 10, rigidly aifixed to the deck of a ship, which carries a vertically movable piston or ram 12, to the upper end of which is rigidly laffixed a cantilevered arm 14. A worm wheel 16, rotatable by a motor and worm (not shown) is carried by the cylinder, the ram being key or spline connected to the ram. With the struc ture so far described, the arm may be raised or lowered to a desired position by hydraulic pressure and the arm rotated by the worm to various positions about the vertical axis of the ram.

A boom support member 18 is journaled on arm 14 adjacent its outer free end by an integral collar 19 and may be rotated to a desired position about its horizontal axis by a double acting piston type hydraulic actuator 20, one end 22 of which is pivotally connected to member 13 and the other end 24 pivotally connected to a rigid abutment 26 aflixed to arm 14. By selectively applying fluid under pressure to one of the opposite sides of its piston the support member may be rotated about a horizontal axis to a desired angular position.

Member 18 is provided with a machine guide 28 which supports a rectilinearly movable boom 30. Since the weight of boom 30 and its supported missile is considerable a relatively friction free guide is preferred such as a plurality of rollers 32', 34 which engage outwardly directed flanges 36 On the boom. Rectilinear movement of the boom is controlled by a double acting hydraulic cylinder 3-8 IafiiXed to the boom support, the piston rod 40 of which is aflixed at its opposite ends to the boom. As will be apparent, application of fluid to one of opposite sides of the actuator piston will cause the boom to rectilinearly translate in one of opposite directions in its guide.

As in the patent referred to, the boom supports a missile by 'a pair of members (not shown) which engage longitudinally spaced launching lugs extending vertically from top of the missile, these members being movable rectilinearly of the beam along a guideway 46 in any manner desired such as the endless chain disclosed in such patent. A latch 42, similar to that disclosed in the patent is also provided to couple one end of the boom to a pin 44 on one of the launcher cells.

In the operation of the apparatus, the boom is lowered to a position parallel with the deck of the ship and over a wheeled dolly which supports the missile. The missile is then captured by its launching lugs and the boom raised and rotated by ram 12, tilted by cylinder 20 and rectilinearly moved by cylinder 38 to a position such that its forward end may be latched to a pin 44 carried by a launcher cell of the launcher. As will be apparent, the multi-cell launcher may also be rotated about a vertical axis and the cells tilted to align the launcher rails of a cell (not shown) with the boom. When latch 42 is secured to pin 44 it also opens metering valves V (FIG. 5 through suitable mechanical or other connections 50 which converts cylinders 20, 38 to dashpots. Control valves CV which were formerly employed in tilting the boom and translating it are now closed. As a missile is moved along guideway 46 toward the launcher it will be apparent that the boom 'will be subjected to a high eccentric load, resisted by the connection between the forward end of the boom and a pin 44. In even-t pin 44 should fail, the boom would drop to the deck damaging the missile and creating personnel hazard were it not for the dashpot action of cylinder 20 which bypasses fluid to an opposite end of the cylinder through a metered orifice in valve V. Cylinder .38 provides a like dashpot action against rapid translation of the boom along guides 28.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claim the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

In a shipboard missile launcher of the type having a deck mount rotatable about a vertical axis and a plurality of parallel adjacent superposed pairs of cells carried thereby for individual pivotation of each pair about a common horizontal axis, each cell having a launching rail extending between its muzzle and breech ends, each missile having a pair of longitudinally spaced upwardly projecting launching lugs adapted to be rectilinearly guided along a launching rail, the improvements comprising; apparatus aflixed to the ship and disposed above said deck for transferring missiles from adjacent said deck to said cells, said apparatus comprising, a hydraulic ram mounted for movement along a vertical axis and for rotation about said vertical axis, a horizontal cantilevered arm rigidly afiixed to the upper end of the ram, a boom support pivotally carried by the end of the cantilevered arm for movement about a horizontal axis, a first hydraulic double acting actuator connecting the boom support and said cantilevered arm, a boom carried by and beneath said boom support mounted for rectilinear movement, a second double acting hydraulic actuator for rectilinearly moving the boom, 'whereby it may be extended to a position such that its forward end may be connected to a launcher cell, a latch carried by said forward end adapted to engage with a launcher cell, and means responsive to the latching of said forward end to a cell for converting :at least said first hydraulic actuator to a dashpot for preventing rapid downward movement of the forward end of the boom in event of failure of the latching connection between the boom and a cell.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,542,969 Spear June 23, 1925 2,937,574 Senft May 24, 1960 2,987,963 Eaton June 13, 1961 

